Caesar did as he said and headed straight for Musashi"s quarters, although it was late, he doubted that the old man would already be asleep.Without Joe dragging Caesar down, he arrived at the inner gates within a few minutes and once again, transversed them by simply pushing on it with his hands.
The guards stationed at the gate just simply stared in wonder as Caesar leisurely walked past them, their physical strength was much greater in comparison to humans, however, to be capable of moving such a large gate with sheer physical power, was beyond them. Even Musashi, who was a master at utilizing his mana, would not be capable of moving the gate with such ease.
Caesar, however, didn"t pay much heed to the astonished guards, he was already used to such reactions back in Rahvin kingdom, the only difference being, that he restrained himself in the past.
Caesar quickened his pace and entered into the large and graceful mansion, the floors were made of what looked to be bamboo while the walls were decorated with pictures and smooth green paint.
The mansion was, indeed, relatively pleasing to the eye. It incorporated fashion similar to j.a.pan on Earth. Caesar couldn"t help but admire the place every time he pa.s.sed by it, although Rahvin kingdom had its merits, the fox-kin stronghold held much more grace.
Thinking to here, Caesar soon arrived in front of Musashi"s door. At the sight of Caesar, the guards moved aside and allowed pa.s.sage whilst nodded their heads respectfully.
Seeing their cordial behavior, Caesar nodded his head gratefully and stepped past them, he continued walking until he reached the elegantly decorated double sided door, to which he softly knocked.
A quiet knocking sound echoed through the halls, though quiet, with Musashi"s superb hearing skills, it would be effective.
Caesar waited a few more moments, and as he had expected, he could hear faint footsteps approach the door from the other side, which was presumably Musashi.
Soon, the doors slid open and Musashi"s ragged face appeared within the crack, his long beard hung to his chest and his face looked much more weary than normal.
Seeing his dreadful appearance, Caesar couldn"t help but frown, it looked as though he had aged a few years since he last saw him in the meeting room, which was merely just a few hours ago.
"Do you require something of me?" Musashi asked after a moment of awkward silence.
His words brought Caesar back to reality, "ah yes, I was wondering if you had any materials that can incorporate mana… Joe needs it to make a magic accessory" Caesar asked whilst studying Musashi"s facial features.
Musashi squinted his eyes and stroked his long beard, "I believe we have some Aronian steel in our treasury, I"ll deliver some of it to you tomorrow, as for now, I"m going to rest" Musashi replied in a fatigued tone.
"Very well, thank you… I apologize for waking you at an undesirable time" Caesar spoke apologetically and bent his back into a crescent shape, resulting in an almost perfect half-bow.
Musashi smiled wryly, "don"t pay my ragged appearance too much heed. When I"m awake, I use my mana to invigorate my body, resulting in it looking, and functioning greater than normal" Musashi explained.
Hearing his words, Caesar nodded his head in understanding, though, some traces of doubt flashed within his eyes… "I"ll go ahead and leave your presence, for now, again, thank you for the steel," Caesar said thankfully and turned around to walk away.
As he was walking away, he could hear a voice sound out from behind him, "Aronian steel is very rare and hard to come by, in fact, it is amongst one our most precious belongings… please do not waste it" Musashi called out from behind the door and closed it swiftly after.
Even if Musashi didn"t ask, Caesar didn"t plan to waste it, however, that was more reliant on Joe"s expertise. Although Caesar believed that Joe was capable, he didn"t know exactly how capable nor did he know how useful a magic accessory was.
While in the midst of thought, Caesar once again walked past the guards and headed back toward the west wing, he was hoping that Joe and Magni had kicked it off and formed some kind of rivalry. In the fantasy stories Caesar had read when he was but a child, Gnomes and Dwarves seemed to have hated each other, though, there were many differences between Althoria and Earth.
Whilst thinking to here, he quickened his pace. Caesar could not deny that one of the main reasons he wanted a rivalry to form was, in fact, due to the comical aspect, just imagining both of those rambunctious fools arguing to each other brought a gleeful smile to his face.
Soon, Caesar once again reached the outside and had yet another meeting with the guards stationed at the inner gates. They looked at him with suspicion and steered clear from the gate.
Even Caesar couldn"t deny that walking through the inner gates three times in one night was quite suspicious, alas, he didn"t have any qualms in shocking the guards a few more times, in fact, he thought it was quite humorous.
He lazily stepped toward the gate and gracefully placed his right hand on it, he glanced left and right before subtly pushing, and blasting the gate open, once again, creating a huge gust of wind fluttering his long, white hair in the wind.
The corner of Caesar"s lips curled and his piercing red eyes gleamed within the night, shocking the guards surrounding him, yet again. Seeing that his purpose was achieved, Caesar chuckled and continued walking towards the west wing, where Joe and Magni awaited.
Once Caesar left the guards line of sight, all of them breathed a sigh of relief, "i-is he playing with us?" one of them asked.
One of the more feminine looking guards took a step forward and fidgeted slightly "t-that teasing smile and the perfect contours of his face, ah, I think I"m in love" he said with a strange blush causing all of the guards to look at him weirdly.
---
Caesar, who was in the midst of walking, suddenly shivered, he felt an ominous premonition but just shrugged it off and continued on his way.
Within the time it takes for to brew a cup of coffee, Caesar finally arrived just a few meters away from the Gnomish tents… but to his surprise, the quiet atmosphere he was expecting, was instead, loud and rowdy.
A few candles and other forms of light were placed around the tents and Caesar could see quite a few of the gnomes cheering whilst in the middle of their encampment.
Caesar could not deny his curiosity was piqued, thus, he strode over and peeked over the small gnomes, as to see what was happening.
In the middle of the gnomes, Joe and Magni sitting were at a wooden table, empty flasks surrounded them and their faces were flushed, presumably from alcohol.
"You will never beat me in a drinking contest!" Joe slurred angrily.
"You"re a few years too early!" Magni roared back and gulped down the remnants of alcohol in his flask.
Witnessing this scene, Caesar couldn"t help but ma.s.sage his forehead, he had only been gone for about half an hour, alas, both of these fools were already drunk… he couldn"t comprehend what they were boasting about.
Caesar pushed through the small gnomes and pulled a chair to the small table both Joe and Magni were sitting at… "I"ll show you two gremlins what a man with alcohol tolerance is," Caesar said with a provocative smile.
Although he wasn"t inclined to fool around, a little fun wouldn"t hurt.
Both Magni and Joe looked up at Caesar"s words and smiled challengingly, "heh, there is no way a pretty boy like yourself can handle more ale than us" they said in unison.
"Since you"re so confident, let"s make a bet… If I win, I can order you two to do anything I want, that is of course if it is within your capabilities" Caesar said with a sly smile.
Both Joe and Magnie hesitated for a moment before nodded their heads in agreement "okay, I accept, however, if we win, we can order you to do anything we want" Joe replied with a sinister laugh.
"Very well" Caesar replied curtly and grabbed a nearby flask.